Honda, from a common man to an enthusiast everybody at some point of time to another had a dream of owning a car with a capital H logo on its nose.
In India especially even before liberalisation the wealthy people privately imported Hondas, such was the appeal. So when Honda actually entered India with a JV with Siel to form Honda Siel Cars India Ltd. and established a plant at Greater Noida everybody was very excited about the same.
Their first product when they started their Indian inning was the City, a sporty sedan for an affluent man. The sleek and sporty profile of the first generation fired up the Indian imagination and demand for a reliable Honda hardware. Fast forward to 2nd and 3rd generations of the City saw it go into a more practical role but one thing was sure the appeal and value of the Honda badge only increased.
Their second product for India was the 8th gen Civic which sat above City and was for those who desired an even more sorted product than City. Even though priced very high it was an instant success as many preferred it due to its gorgeous looks, reliable hardware and fun to drive characteristics thus making Honda as a maker of Fun to Drive easy to maintain car maker
Their next products were the Accord luxury sedan and the CRV luxury SUV, both of them were priced eye-wateringly high and came only with petrol engines also their automatic transmission were gas guzzlers which ensured the fact that they were out of reach of common people and lesser mortals, but it was such a success back in the day. Wealthy individuals, Bollywood stars everybody preferred them over anything, even above Mercedes!
The competition for Honda cars did come, some notable mentions are the Mitsubishi Lancer, Opel Astra, Ford Ikon, Hyundai Accent for City; Ford Mondeo, Opel Vectra, Škoda Superb for the Accord; Hyundai Tucson CRDi 1st gen for the CRV but none of them had the appeal of Honda cars due to either reliablity and maintenance issues or poor brand image and weird designs thus not being able to even come close to mighty Honda let alone defeating them.
Things took a drastic turn from the end of the first decade of ‘00s. Honda Siel Cars now became Honda Cars India Ltd. which took an extremely opposite approach. They discontinued their premium cars which was Honda’s forte launched poorly built, shoddy cheap products with glaring cost cutting just to gain market share which was the kick starter of demise of Honda. People outrightly rejected them since they didn’t even come close the people’s expectations from Honda let alone their own good cars. They faced massive losses and literally shattered into pieces and now just somehow trying to survive in the market.
The full advantage of this situation was utilised by the Koreans, slowly but steadily they perfected their designs and engineering skills and started making state of the art machines which were more reliable than Europeans thereby slowly emerging as a Premium Brand for Indian families, Indians love them due to their stylish appearance, reliable and low maintenance and what everything Honda was once loved for apart from Fun to Drive characteristic but that was okay for most Indians thus emerging as a Giant.
I can see Honda Cars India future to worsen even further. I think the top management of Honda Global has just lost faith on its Indian arm and unwilling to pump any fresh investment and left to survive on its own. The Indian arm seriously lacks funds now which is why they sold their Greater Noida facilities, involving in cheap cost cutting, not bringing new engines and technology and flogging their aging and boring lineup of cars with useless facelifts. I don’t see any way forward for Honda India TBH.
Don’t ever become overconfident and treat your customers as fools; secondly don’t underestimate your rivals irrespective of how much small they are and last but not the least do something new everyday not just lay back on your old glory.
Written by: Aryaan (Our Youtube Subscriber)
Disclaimer: Information is submitted by the owner of the vehicle through online form medium. Volklub-Sunderdeep Singh doesn't take any responsibility to confirm accuracy or authenticity of the information provided. Readers are requested to make their opinion by reading from other means as well and do take a test drive of the car you are interested in and ask all doubts from the authentic service/sales advisors in a particular brand.
Sole purpose of this is to try providing readers with factual information where other readers have shared their ownership experiences that may help readers for their car buying decision.